One-In-100 Million ‘Cotton Candy’ Lobster Found At Maine Restaurant

PORTLAND, Maine (CBS Local) – A seafood restaurant in Maine had a very special guest swimming in its fish tank over the weekend that was simply too rare to put on the menu.

Scales Restaurant in Portland posted images of a cotton candy-colored lobster that had been brought to the eatery with their lobster supply. The extraordinary find is said to be a one-in-100 million find among lobsters. Chef Travis and the Scales staff named the colorful sea creature “Betty Blue.”

Scales added on Facebook that Betty Blue spent a few days at the restaurant before Chef Travis released it back into the sea on Aug. 8.

Betty Blue is not the first rare lobster to be found in the area. In November, Canadian fisherman Robinson Russell caught another cotton candy crustacean near Grand Manan Island – about 300 miles north of Portland.

That lobster was named “Lucky” for obvious reasons and donated to the Huntsman Marine Science Center aquarium in New Brunswick, Canada. Marine biologists say the odd coloring is likely caused by a genetic mutation.